Oppenheimer

J. Robert Oppenheimer (April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American theoretical physicist and public figure best known for directing the Los Alamos Laboratory during the Manhattan Project, which produced the first atomic bombs during World War II.

Born in New York City to a wealthy, academically inclined family, Oppenheimer studied at Harvard University, the University of Cambridge, and earned a PhD at Göttingen in 1927 under Max Born. He contributed to theoretical physics and taught at the University of California, Berkeley, where he became a leading figure in American science.

During World War II, he was appointed scientific director of the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, overseeing the design and assembly of the plutonium and uranium devices that culminated in the Trinity test on July 16, 1945. The project contributed to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki later that year. After the war, Oppenheimer became a public advocate for controlling nuclear weapons and served on the General Advisory Committee of the Atomic Energy Commission.

In 1954, amid Cold War tensions, his security clearance was revoked following a controversial hearing that scrutinized past leftist associations; the action curtailed his influence on policy. In 1963 he was awarded the Enrico Fermi Prize in recognition of his contributions to physics and national security policy. He died in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1967 from throat cancer.

Oppenheimer’s legacy is complex: a pivotal figure in the development of nuclear weapons and a vocal advocate for scientific responsibility and international control of armaments. His life and work have fueled extensive scholarship and popular portrayals, including the 2023 film Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan. He is often associated with the line from the Bhagavad Gita, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” reflecting the moral weight of his scientific achievements.